Did you know that the Fargo Force have two NHL draft picks playing on their team this 2009-10 season and a total of five NHL draft picks in their short two year existance?

Luke Witkowski was taken in the 6th round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Nate Condon was also taken in 2008 in the 7th round by the Colorado Avalanche. Josh Birkholz (Florida Panthers) and Mike Lee (Phoenix Coyotes) were drafted in the 3rd round in 2009. Nick Oliver (Nashville Predators) was also drafted in 2009 in the 4th round. His stock plummeted when he was injured during the 2008-09 season.

5 draft picks and counting in 2 years...

As for potential draft picks for the upcoming year in the USHL:

2010 NHL draft eligible players to watch from Team USA are: Jon Merrill (D), Jack Campbell (G), Stephen Johns (D), Luke Moffatt (F), Nick Mattson (D), and Matt Nieto (F). The Chicago Steel's Kevin Lind (D) and Des Moines' Yasin Cisse (F) are all players to watch out for as potential high NHL picks. Former USHL player, Stanislav Galiev (F, Indiana Ice) will also go high in the 2010 draft, some scouts have him listed with top 10 potential.

One player to watch on every list is Seth Ambroz (F) of the Omaha Lancers. He is a potential first round pick in 2011 and is creating the most NHL draft hype in the USHL.

Colten St. Clair (2011 Draft Eligible) and Eamonn McDermott (2010) have been mentioned in hockey prospect forums but nothing to get worked up about yet, not until more official scouting lists are released.

With the completion of the Fall Classic and the beginning of the new season, more scouting information will be released shortly, and it will be posted here as soon as it is released. Stay tuned!

The Fargo Force put up 61 penalty minutes and 15 shots on net on their way to a 5-3 loss to the Green Bay Gamblers.

Many people questioned who would step up and be the guy who would be able to drop the gloves for the Force in their second season with the absence of Luke Witkowski. The Force answered that question with four fights against the Green Bay Gamblers. The four fights were not able to give the Force the momentum they were looking for as the Green Bay Gamblers pulled away with three goals in the second period to beat the Fargo Force.

Colten St. Clair proved that he was not only able to score goals, but drop the gloves as well as he was the first to take on Matt Stewart with 5:48 remaining in the first period. Grant Scott, Kodie Curran and Nick Romanick also provided the early morning wake up calls for the Force, all fighting in the loss. Eamonn McDermott was ejected from the game with a cross checking penalty in the second period. Despite putting up 61 minutes in penalties, the Force only gave up one powerplay goal on 8 chances.

The Fargo Force defeated the Indiana Ice in a rematch of last season's Clark Cup Finals. The Force scored three second period goals to down the Ice. Top scorers for the Force were Colten St. Clair (1g, 2a) and Corey Leivermann (1g, 2a). Fargo was 3-6 on the power play and outshot the Ice 31-24 in the win. This is the second straight game the Force outshot their opponent after being outshot in their first two preseason games against the Sioux Falls Stampede.

The Force were down early after Anthony Bitetto buried one 4:40 into the game to make it 1-0. Nick Romanick answered three minutes later with the first of three powerplay goals for the Force to make it 1-1, assists went to Leivermann and St. Clair.

The second period proved to be the strongest period of the night for the Force scoring three and giving up zero. The first of the three second period goals was also scored on the powerplay by Leivermann with an assist to St. Clair. Nate Schmidt scored the third powerplay goal two minutes later with assists going to Cole Gunner and Kodie Curran to make it 3-1. Colten St. Clair then got his third point of the night scoring a goal with assists to Chase Grant and Leivermann.

Chris Stafne started the the third period quickly with a goal 34 seconds into the period and that would finalize the scoring for the Force on the night. Stafne was assisted on the goal by Gavin Hartzog and Gunner. The Force survived a late third period rally, as the Ice scored two goals in the final 3:06 of the game to make it 5-3.

The Force used their third goaltender of the preseason in the win. Martin Janzons saved 6 of 8 shots in the win for the Force. Cody Campbell was solid once again stopping 15 out of the 16 shots he faced.

The Fargo Force will begin their 2009-10 season, Friday, October 2, at 7:35 at the Urban Plains Center in Fargo, ND. The Force will be looking to improve upon the successful Clark Cup Finals runner-up season they had last year.

The Force have sixteen players committed to NCAA Division 1 programs. The most hype has been produced by USA U18 Select Team players, Cody Campbell (goaltender, committed to UNH) and Colten St. Clair (forward, committed to UND). Force players Matt Leitner, Corey Leivermann and Chase Grant are headed to MSU-Mankato. Nate Schmidt and Nate Condon will be playing in the WCHA for Minnesota. Joey Benik and Nick Oliver will be going to St. Cloud State. Cole Gunner and Joe Rehkamp will be attending Air Force Academy. Eamonn McDermott is going back to his home state to play for Colorado College. Gavin Hartzog will be playing collegiate hockey for Wisconsin. Blake Doerring will travel far to play for Vermont. Alex Lippincott is set to play for Ohio State and Chris Stafne will play for UMD.

The expectations are high for the Fargo Force, returning 14 players from the team that took them to the Clark Cup Finals. The biggest hole to fill has probably been the goaltender position with USHL Goaltender of the Year, Mike Lee, heading to St. Cloud State. Lee was also drafted in the third round of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Phoenix Coyotes. Cody Campbell proved that he could be a solid backup last year, filling in for Mike Lee nicely. Campbell is expected to carry much of the load for the Force this year.

The list is in two parts: The "Listing By College" page lists the NCAA schools and the players who have reportedly committed to them. The league and geographic pages contains a listing of players who have done well at the junior or minor hockey level, and therefore may attract NCAA attention. These pages of potential NCAA recruits are based upon the information available to me, and do not represent the views of the NCAA or any of its teams. Accordingly, many players who may attract (or in fact have already attracted) NCAA attention may not yet be listed because that information has not come to my attention. The listing of school commitments reflects reported verbal commitments to attend the school. Although verbal commitments are not legally binding until the player signs a binding NCAA Letter of Intent ("LOI"). Players who have signed a LOI are noted in bold. All other listings are of reported verbal commitments. (Ivy league schools do not use a LOI, so all commitments are verbal commitments only.)